Testimonials

Delphine made our lessons fun and relaxed. She was able to make our moves look good with little practice. She was even able to work with me, a guy who has never danced before, and make me look like a veteran on my wedding day. We had a surprising amount of fun every time we met- laughing at ourselves falling over our feet, celebrating our victories when we nailed a move. On our wedding night our family and friends were so shocked when we busted out our moves. Such a great experience all around!

Our First Dance Vancouver experience was awesome! Delphine was such a patient instructor and choreographed an easy to follow but still beautiful routine for two very beginner dancers. We are so glad we decided to try out First Dance Vancouver, it really made our first dance into something special and magical and entertaining for all our guests. The dance lessons and the practice it required outside of the studio forced us to take time out of our day to work on something together. It really made us feel accomplished to perfect the steps to our ability and create something amazing. I would recommend First Dance Vancouver to any couple who would like to take their wedding to the next level and prove to themselves that they can dance!

Delphine at First Dance Vancouver helped us create one of the highlights of our wedding.

Right from the start, Delphine was great. We had a call to discuss song selection and she assured us that she could make something great from any song we selected, so to go with our hearts. We went with a non-traditional wedding dance song, “Home”, and Delphine delivered amazing choreography that wowed our friends and family.

We had a lot of fun with Delphine. She has a warm personality, which immediately put us at ease. While sticking to the framework of her choreography, she was able to adjust to our ability and comfort. By the end of our sixth lesson, with practice in between, of course, we were feeling confident and able to deliver an amazing performance.

All couples experience wedding stress in the months before the big day. We contemplated initially whether we even had time for dance lessons, but it was one of the best decisions we made in the process. The lessons and home practice sessions were real quality time where we could stop thinking about logistics, dresses, colours and flowers, and just connect and have a great time together!

From the bottom of our hearts we highly recommend couples to do this (and to select Delphine and First Dance Vancouver to make it happen)!

Ashley and Reinier Nagels

First Dance Clients, 6 lessons

Working with First Dance Vancouver was one of our favourite parts of planning our wedding. We had never danced together before, and our lessons were a wonderful break and something to look forward to and have fun doing together amidst all of the stress and craziness of the last couple months of planning.

We took 6 first dance lessons, as well as one father/daughter and mother/son lesson with Delphine, and she was excellent, creative, professional, patient, and supportive throughout our dancing adventure.

Every lesson resulted in so much fun and laughter as well as significant progress on our dancing. Delphine put together an incredible choreography perfect for us – many guests at our wedding complimented our first dance, and some even said it was the best they had seen! Now that the wedding is over, we will be trying our best to find an excuse to take more lessons as we really miss our weekly breaks working with Delphine!

Bert and I decided we wanted to dance the Dirty Dancing theme song for our first dance at our wedding. We are both 60 years old. Instead of laughing us out of the studio, Delphine embraced the idea. From our first lesson Delphine was very prepared to help us through the difficulties of the dance. She was encouraging, kind and extremely patient with us. She changed the dance to accommodate our shortcomings and our strengths. We laughed a lot. But we didn’t stop there. My son Peter was marrying Beth in June. I offered them dance lessons with Delphine. They took two lessons and at their wedding the guests applauded after their amazing dance which was only mediocre before Delphine offered her enthusiastic suggestions. And it didn’t stop there. Beth and her father took a few lessons from Delphine. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as they did their beautifully choreographed dance by Delphine. Dancing with Delphine will never stop for Bert and me. We will continue to take dance lessons as long as Delphine is teaching!

Tina and Bert

first dance clients, 7 lessons

Delphine was fantastic. I (the groom) cannot dance to save my life, even after a few cocktails. She immediately made us feel at ease and gave us a well-choreographed, but simple and easy to learn, routine that impressed our wedding guests and matched well with our music choice. It really was the cherry on top of our otherwise unbelievable day and made it really outstanding!

My husband had zero dance experience but I really wanted our first dance to be more than swaying back and forth. He was definitely nervous and didn’t want anything too cheesy or choreographed, but agreed to meet Delphine to go over a game plan. Delphine got to know us as a couple and understood what we wanted. She was extremely encouraging and patient and within a few lessons we were feeling comfortable with the choreography and having fun doing it. My husband kept saying how much he enjoyed Delphine’s teaching style and how patient she was with him. By our 6th and last lesson we were doing lifts! Something I’ve always dreamed of doing. We took what Delphine taught us, and our new gained confidence, and just had a blast on our wedding day. The picture of my husband lifting me is one of my favorite wedding photographs!

Carlyn & Colin

First Dance Clients, 6 lessons

It was such a gift to work with First Dance during the months and weeks leading up to our wedding. Delphine was an excellent instructor, who made the effort to get to know us even before our first lesson, so that our dance reflected who we are as a couple. We wanted a dance that moved from a beautiful and flowy waltz, to a spunky and energetic finale. While I had a small dance background, my fiance had never danced in his life. Delphine was patient and very encouraging, and she had complete confidence in our ability (and worked within the both the vision for the dance, as well as our skill set). She created a stunning first dance that was incredibly unique and memorable. We have received so many compliments on the choreography, many have told us they were in tears! We also found that our dance lessons leading up to the wedding ended up being quite therapeutic in the midst of “wedding stress” and busyness. It was a time for us to connect, unwind, and have fun together! We are so thankful to have discovered First Dance and would recommend to anyone who is looking to create a memorable first dance.

Vanessa & Evan

First Dance Clients, 6 lessons

Neither of us really know how to dance, and we were considering not having a first dance at all rather than embarrass ourselves by doing the junior high sway and shuffle in front of all of our friends and family. If we were going to do a first dance, we wanted to do something that would blow people’s minds. In just three short lessons, Delphine choreographed and taught us a three part routine. Part one was a simple waltz. In part two, the band cut in with Everybody Dance Now and we busted out some bollywood moves. Finally, about a dozen of our friends joined us for a group number. It was a smash hit, numerous people said they couldn’t believe we did it and one said she couldn’t stop screaming. We spent a lot more money on a lot of things nobody even noticed, but our first dance was something everybody will remember. Delphine is an amazing choreographer and teacher. I wouldn’t have even believed we could do what we did ahead of time. Thanks again for making us look so good on the dance floor!

Raji & Ryan

First Dance Clients, 3 lessons

I was the lucky bidder on the Dance Lesson package at your lovely gala and I wanted to share with you our appreciation to the donor of the prize package. My husband and I enjoyed the lessons and our teacher was a very patient, professional and accommodating young woman.

Jo-Anne Nykilchyk

Winning Bidder at the ICord Fundraiser Gala (UBC)

We had no background in dancing so we decided to perform a choreographed first dance to impress our guests at the wedding. The dance routine that Delphine created was beautiful and our guests were definitely amazed by our first dance.

Delphine is friendly, genuine and professional. Due to my husband’s sudden knee injury, Delphine was able to modify our dance routine so my husband can dance comfortably.

We had a lot of fun learning and practicing the dance. Taking the dance lessons brought us closer and we would definitely do it again in a heart beat!

Scally & Andy

First Dance Clients

It was an absolute pleasure to work with, and have Delphine and Caitlin as part of our annual BC Children’s Hospital black-tie gala. Their thoughtfulness, professionalism and passion is evident in both their planning and performance. They were able to customize a piece to fit the distinct space and time parameters required. Their dance was successful in creating an ambience that carried guests into and set the tone for the evening. We can’t thank you ladies enough!

Leah Peden

Philanthropy Assitant, BC Children's Hospital Foundation

I was referred to Delphine by my best man because I needed a choreographer and teacher for my first dance. To say that I am grateful for her guidance, patience and professionalism is an understatement. She taught us a routine that was unique to us and within our capabilities as beginners. She was generous with her time, reassuring and a pleasure to work with! We are very grateful to have her teach us our first dance.

Tristan & Carey

First Dance Clients

First Dance Vancouver was introduced to us by our wedding planner. Usually in most persian weddings the couple to a persian dance together and its done! easy and not much practice needed. I wanted to to have a nice warm romantic first dance and so we started our session with Kara. Kara is such a pleasure to work with, sweet, cute and so much fun. I am a shy person and not much of a dancer but I really enjoyed our sessions. We even changed our song last minute and Kara was very patient with us she helped us get our routine together in time for the wedding. I still haven’t seen our video but everyone at the wedding loved our dance! Thank you so much First Dance Vancouver and dearest Kara!

Sadaf & Soroush

First Dance Clients

I have known Delphine for over 2 years, as both a teacher and an artist.

I started doing ballet again in my thirties because I loved the mechanics of it, but when I became one of Delphine’s student I wanted to dance because of the freedom of it. Delphine is so intuitive with movement and can see every pattern in my body. She is able to guide me with words and therapeutic corrections that make my body feel free and elegant. Despite being a superiorly accomplished dancer and choreographer she approaches each student with kindness and grace, and makes you feel like the most important person in the room.

As a performer and artist Delphine is spellbinding. She has a deep connection with music and movement, and is able to translate a story through dance. She is equally as beautiful as a ballerina en pointe as a contemporary dance artist. Delphine is creative and disciplined, allowing her to be an excellent choreographer and leader-to work with her in any capacity would be a privilege.

Last fall First Dance Vancouver provided an excellent performance to enhance a masquerade themed gala evening held in the Fraser Valley. They did a fabulous job creating and choreographing a dance to fit the theme perfectly. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and I would recommend them to assist with your future dance entertainment needs.

Intuitive, mind- and heart-expanding….my dance lessons with Kara were an exploration of the expression of self. Blending structure with free form, our time together helped me to identify how I move, how I express myself versus doing it all “a certain, regimented way”. It is a gift that keeps unfolding in my movement, no matter where I am and what I am doing. AND it was fun!

Christine M. Harrington

Working with First Dance Vancouver was one of our favourite parts of planning our wedding. We had never danced together before, and our lessons were a wonderful break and something to look forward to and have fun doing together amidst all of the stress and craziness of the last couple months of planning.

We took 6 first dance lessons, as well as one father/daughter and mother/son lesson with Delphine, and she was excellent, creative, professional, patient, and supportive throughout our dancing adventure.

Every lesson resulted in so much fun and laughter as well as significant progress on our dancing. Delphine put together an incredible choreography perfect for us – many guests at our wedding complimented our first dance, and some even said it was the best they had seen! Now that the wedding is over, we will be trying our best to find an excuse to take more lessons as we really miss our weekly breaks working with Delphine!